Chapter 2580
After three rounds of wine and five dishes, one after another guests began to take the initiative to stand up and leave. Most of the characters who can appear on such occasions are well-informed and know when to come and when to leave on such occasions. Since they are here to accompany guests, they must leave enough time and space for the real protagonist.
Bai Letong was not very interested in this kind of business entertainment and wanted to suggest saying goodbye and leaving. But before he could say anything, Li Fa had already taken the initiative to persuade them to stay: "Several young elites have come from afar, and it is rare to have the opportunity to meet Dai." I have ordered people to prepare refreshments for the guild meeting. We will move to a quiet place later and we can chat slowly.”
Li Fa took the initiative to stay as a guest. Bai Letong saw that Tao Hongfang and Ning Zijing had no intention of leaving, so it was hard for him to insist on his own opinion. Anyway, they live not far from Li Fa's residence, and there is no trouble in and out of the city. They don't have to worry about being delayed and unable to return home.
Later, Li Fa sent away the last group of guests and took everyone to a study room in the inner courtyard to sit down. Before Shi Chengwu and Dai Chengrong's buttocks were warm, they said they wanted to smoke, and they went out one after the other. Only Li Fa, Dai Yingda, Tao, Bai and Ning were left in the house.
Li Fa said: "This time Duke Dai came to Hangzhou, in addition to dealing with business matters, he should have other matters, right?"
Dai Yingda nodded and replied: "I have to see Marshal Shi tomorrow. There are some matters that need to be discussed with him face to face."
Li Fa asked: "Is it a matter of buying bonds?"
Dai Yingda smiled and said: "Shopkeeper Li is still well-informed! This matter is indeed on tomorrow's agenda."
When Tao Hongfang heard this conversation, he couldn't help but remember that he had heard Li Fa say not long ago that Yangzhou salt merchants had been a big buyer of bonds issued by Haihan in recent years. In the following years, the large-scale infrastructure planned in Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas There are indeed many projects, and the government will definitely issue project bonds as usual to raise construction funds from the public. The Yangzhou salt merchants will naturally be a big contributor. Presumably, the specific purchase amount and procedures need to be discussed with Shi Diwen face to face.
Having said this, Dai Yingda stopped, turned to Bai Letong and said: "There is one more thing, but it has something to do with Mr. Xiaobai."
Bai Letong said in shock: "Is it related to me?"
Dai Yingda nodded and said: "To be precise, it is related to what you asked me before."
Bai Letong immediately remembered that he had asked Dai Yingda if any children of the Dai family had participated in this year's township examination due to the appearance of two township examination officials. At that time, Dai Yingda tried to avoid the important matter and put it aside. She never thought that he would take the initiative to bring up the matter at this time.
Bai Letong wanted to find out the matter at that time, but he did not have the right time to communicate with Dai Yingda in depth. How could he miss the opportunity again at this time? He immediately responded: "Dai Gong is talking about the Dai family's children taking the provincial examination?"
Bai Letong specially emphasized the words "children of the Dai family" in his tone, in order to retaliate against Dai Yingda's previous ambiguity.
But Dai Yingda did not avoid the point this time. He nodded slightly and said: "This year, there are indeed several young students in my Dai family who are going to take part in the provincial examination. It's just that their qualifications are dull and it may be a little difficult for them to get the honors. I heard that Mr. Xiaobai happened to be the one to take the exam. He is the official in charge of this year's provincial examination. If he can take care of something so that the children of the Dai family can pass smoothly, Dai will be grateful, and he will be rewarded in the future!" Dai Yingda's words were quite straightforward, which greatly exceeded Bai Letong's expectations! . Although he expected that Dai Yingda might be trying to gain relations with him through the back door, he should adopt a more tactful approach, so that even if he ran into trouble with him, it would not make everyone look ugly. But Dai Yingda didn't take the ordinary route, and directly made his purpose clear, asking Bai Letong to take care of the Dai family's children during the provincial examination. This actually made Bai Letong a little confused, and he didn't know how to answer for a while.
Seeing that Bai Letong remained silent, Li Fa persuaded from the side: "The Dai family has been cooperating with our country for more than ten years ago. They are trustworthy in life and work. The children of the Dai family have always been loyal to the court. If they can get the opportunity to serve the country, I believe they will not disappoint.”
The "imperial court" Li Fa refers to is naturally not the Ming Dynasty, but refers to the Haihan Dynasty. Although the Dai family had not taken refuge with Haihan openly before this, they did contribute money and efforts in private, and they could be considered to have made a lot of contributions. Although there is a suspicion of sitting on the fence, at least it has been recognized by the executive committee. There are also many officials who are from Yangzhou, so what Li Fa said is true.
But how can serving the country be equated with taking the provincial examination through the back door? When Bai Letong came back to his senses, he was about to shake his head and refuse, but when he thought that doing so would be too blunt and there was no need to offend the other party, he had an idea as soon as he rolled his eyes and said to Dai Yingda: "This junior is only working part-time in the rural trial office. I have no real power and dare not accept this job. Master Peng and Mr. Lu who had previously visited the township seemed to be familiar with Mr. Dai. Why not ask them to help?"
Bai Letong used retreat to advance and wanted to test Dai Yingda's relationship with Peng and Lu.
Dai Yingda responded: "Master Xiaobai is a sensible person, I won't beat around the bush, just tell the truth! These two people are already old. This time they were just called into the countryside to try out the emergency. There are not many prospects for their official career. I It is really not worthwhile to spend time dealing with them. Although Mr. Xiaobai was temporarily sent to Hangzhou on business and may not be able to manage the township trial in the future, the future is bright, and I am of course happy to make friends with people like Mr. Xiaobai. Even if I owe you a favor, I would rather owe it to Master Xiaobai.”
With this pull and step, Dai Yingda invisibly gave Bai Letong a hand. Although it sounded a bit snobbish, it was in line with the values of a businessman. Just imagine if the other party had no use value, Dai Yingda would waste time and energy to slowly get in touch with him, or even deliberately owe a debt of favor to build a relationship between the two parties.
Bai Letong said: "Dai Gong is very complimentary. However, regarding the provincial examination, I am neither responsible for setting the questions, invigilating the examination, nor serving as a grading reviewer. I am afraid that it will be difficult to take care of specific personnel, and I really can't help."
Of course Bai Letong didn't dare to agree to this, so he could only try to politely refuse the other party. But Dai Yingda didn't seem to be discouraged by this. He nodded and said: "Master Xiaobai has many concerns, and I can understand it. In fact, Master Xiaobai thinks things are too complicated. If Master Xiaobai is willing to help, then there is no need to ask for help." I leaked the questions, or used tricks during the marking and review.”
Bai Letong asked curiously: "That means you don't have to do anything?"
Dai Yingda actually nodded and said: "Yes, that's what I mean. As long as Mr. Xiaobai doesn't do anything, it's equivalent to doing me a big favor."
Bai Letong finally understood what Dai Yingda really wanted to express. The other party was not trying to drag him into trouble and ask him to participate in the rural examination fraud, but just asked him to stay out of the matter, mind his own business, and not act as a stumbling block.
(End of chapter)